Does soaking dry beans before cooking prevent flatulence

beansfood-sciencesoaking

There are all kinds of opinions on whether or not soaking beans helps decrease flatulence.

Some say adding things like baking soda, lemon juice, salt, or other things to the bath helps the effect. Some say soaking them in a warm-water bath is more effective than a cold-water bath. Others say there is no effect whatsoever. Opinions of food-column editors and bloggers (and even users of Seasoned Advice!) seem to diverge considerably.

This tells me there might be little consensus in the general public. But what do the scientists who study this say?

It makes sense that this could be difficult to study, since flatulence production depends on the type of bean/legume, other food ingredients (e.g. cinnamon, garlic, ginger, sulfur-rich foods, etc.), diet, the person's individual GI response to chemicals and fiber, and probably other factors.

I've collected a number of sources:

Sources claiming soaking has little/no effect on flatulence

Sources claiming warm-water soaking helps prevent flatulence

Sources claiming that flatulence shouldn't be a big deal

Sources claiming soaking with additives helps prevent flatulence

Other Soaking Sources

Is there a scientific consensus on how to reduce flatulence from beans and/or legumes in general (if possible), and if so, what is it?

Please include multiple sources to peer-reviewed articles in your answer!

Best Answer

Love this question. I was vegetarian for a few years, so I too thoroughly researched this question, and I guess you could say I spent many hours "running experiments" as well...

I see you posing two questions:

  • Does soaking beans (possibly with added bases, acids, salts, etc) reduce flatulence?
  • What are other ways to reduce flatulence?

Some background on my method:
When I cook beans, I always soak them for over 24 hours, and sometimes as long as 3 days. I always soak them in the fridge - just because they will start getting funky if left on the counter for over 24 hours - and I usually change the water once a day. I only ever salt them after they are finished cooking, because I am a believer in the old wives tale that salt breaks apart bean skins.

Does it work?
Because I always soak my beans, I don't have a control to compare my experience to. So I cannot confidently say whether soaking reduces flatulence. The scientific articles you cite would probably better answer this question.

That being said, a method of reducing flatulence which I am fairly confident works, is to just eat more beans! Back when I was a vegetarian, I could easily go through over 2lbs of (dry) beans a week. This did not prevent me from having a social life, and I didn't notice any difference in amount (or is it technically volume?) of gas compared to when I didn't eat beans. I remember reading somewhere this is a result of how our stomachs adapt to what we eat over the long term.

And in the end, maybe flatulence isn't something we should be trying to avoid. As the old ditty goes,

Beans beans, the magical fruit
The more you eat, the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So let's have beans with every meal!

Words to live by indeed!

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